Has anything historic happened within a mile of your home?
By historic I mean properly historic, the kind of thing that might make it into a school textbook, not just a local event of significance. Battles, declarations, rebellions, executions of national figures, incidents involving royalty, moments on which our nation's history turns (not just "ah yes, the Queen opened a hospital here" or "that bloke who wrote that poem everyone likes once stayed overnight in a cottage").
I've already drawn a circle with a radius of one mile centred on my home, because I walked round it in yesterday's post. It has an area of of π×1×1 = 3.1 square miles, or one thirty-thousandth of the area of the UK, so the chance of anything important having happened inside its circumference might be small. But I do at least live in London so there is hope (unlike that time I lived in a Suffolk village close to nothing much whatsoever). I think I've found four...
Historic things which happened within a mile of my home
12th century
1110: For centuries the main road from London to Colchester crossed the river Lea via a ford at Old Ford - a risky undertaking especially at times of adverse weather. The story has it that Queen Matilda, consort of Henry I, was "well washed by the water" while travelling to Barking Abbey and resolved to build a bridge instead. The new stone bridge "was arched like unto a bowe, a rare piece of work, for before that time the like had never been seen in England" and gave its name to "the head of the town of Stratford, nowe called Bowe".
...but I'm not convinced this counts. Matilda's misstep in the Lea was of little historic significance compared to, say, King John's infamous tumble in the Wash, and she was never properly Queen. But the incident does get a mention on her Wikipedia page, and not much else that happened in England at the start of the 12th century got properly recorded, so maybe it'll do.
13th century: King John is said to have spent the night after signing Magna Carta in his palace at Old Ford (but this is likely entirely false)
14th century
1381: The Peasants' Revolt was England's first proper rebellion, triggered by the unwillingness of a downtrodden populace to pay a poll tax to fund wars against France. Wat Tyler led a volatile contingent from Kent and a separate mob came from Essex, angered by attempts to collect taxes in Brentwood. The Essex villagers marched through Bow and set up camp at Mile End, where they were visited by 14 year-old King Richard II who acceded to most of their demands. But when the rioters proceeded to storm the City and broke into the Tower of London, a standoff in Smithfield saw Wat Tyler killed and the rebellion eventually withered away.
...this is a very strong contender. The Peasants' Revolt is one of the most significant events of the medieval period, and a stalwart of the history classroom because a teenage king takes centre stage. But although Mile End station and Mile End Park fall comfortably within my mile-from home zone, medieval Mile End was much closer to what we now call Whitechapel, one statute mile from the City gates. So although the Revolting Peasants definitely marched through Bow, the king's big Mile End moment was a mile beyond, dammit.
15th century: Chaucer's Canterbury Tales reference Stratford-Atte-Bowe (but this is not historical enough)
16th century: Queen Mary had 13 Protestant martyrs burnt in Stratford(but this is not historical enough)
17th century: King James I had a hunting lodge at Bromley-by-Bow (but this is not historical enough)
18th century: Bow China Works was briefly England's finest producer of porcelain(but this is not historical enough)
19th century
1888: The Matchgirls Strike at the Bryant and May factory in Fairfield Road was a pioneering victory for working women. Match manufacture involved close contact with white phosphorus, which led to a debilitating condition called phossy jaw which caused the premature death of many female workers. Strike action, encouraged by journalist Annie Besant, eventually forced management to accept terms for better working conditions (although it took several more years for white phosphorus to be banned).
...this is a classic tale of solidarity. It's said to have shaped the future of Britain's labour movement and is often quoted as an early example of positive action by working women. It is precisely the kind of event studied in school history lessons as a counterbalance to the economic successes of Victorian industry. In truth the Matchgirls Strike may not have influenced much that followed elsewhere, but because it still resonates I'm going to claim this as my prime local historical event.
20th century: leading suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst based most of her activities in Bow (but this is not historical enough)
21st century
2012: The Games of the 30th Olympiad were held in Stratford, and for one glorious fortnight the eyes of the country (and the world) were on my manor.
...and I reckon this will prove historical enough. Forget about who won what, the London Games are destined to be remembered as a time of openness and optimism before times changed. I can imagine future documentaries in which Stratford's smiling crowds and upbeat ceremonies are used to counterpoint what followed a few years later, first the Brexit referendum and then whatever we're in the middle of right now. If they still have A-levels in 2062, you might get a top grade for quoting Danny Boyle and attaching a video of a parachuting Queen.
